Julie Edwards: Hello, everybody! I see all of you starting to join us today. Welcome!
Julie Edwards: We will get started here in
Julie Edwards: about 2 min. We wanted to open the room a little bit early. Let everybody in feel free to drop into the chat and say, Hi, if you would like to let us know where you're from. We do publish the Chat Transcript on the blog, because there's so much good information that goes back and forth. So if you do not want to use it, or you wanna change your name. You're welcome to do that but if you would like to hop over and tell us where you're joining us from today.
Julie Edwards: That would be fantastic.
Julie Edwards: Hi, Indiana.
Julie Edwards: Indiana! Comin in first today. Hello, hey! Florida! Hey? Michigan.
Noah Lenstra: North Carolina.
Julie Edwards: more Illinois, hey? Arkansas! Hey! Washington, Kentucky.
Julie Edwards: Colorado, Mississippi! Wow! Hi, everybody! This is so great.
Julie Edwards: Those of you who know me know that. Well, good morning, New Zealand. Wow! Hi! Thanks for joining us. Welcome! Those of you who know me know that I love this part of the webinar, so I love seeing where everybody is from I've had a chance to travel in a lot of these places. Not New Zealand yet.
Julie Edwards: Hi! Canada! So nice to see our Canadian colleagues.
Julie Edwards: Hey, Washington! Hi! Cape Cod! That sounds nice
Julie Edwards: even in the snow. Actually, this is, I think, is kind of the nicest time.
Julie Edwards: Hi, Helena! In Montana, so nice to see you from my
Julie Edwards: my adopted home. State.
Julie Edwards: Welcome! Welcome, everybody! Hamilton, Montana! Hello! You're just down the road from me. relatively speaking, Montana. Speak. You're just down the road.
Julie Edwards: hey? Wake Forest.
Julie Edwards: hey? Montgomery, Hay, Connecticut, New Hampshire.
Julie Edwards: I think I've mentioned before, when one of these Webinars we had 46 of the 50 States represented. One of these days we're going to get. We're gonna get all 50. I always look for like the big, empty states, right, like Montana and Wyoming, or the little tiny States like Delaware and
Julie Edwards: Rhode Island.
Julie Edwards: Alright. So we are at the top of the hour. Keep coming in. Excuse me, keep saying hello to each other, but we are going to go ahead and launch this webinar
Julie Edwards: mit Ctl. And welcome. I am Julie Edwards. I am a librarian and an instructional designer with Niche Academy, and I am so happy to welcome you to this webinar on cultivating and sustaining the relationship-driven library.
Julie Edwards: So let me start by introducing Niche Academy. We are an easy to use all in one learning platform that helps libraries create and deliver effective training and measure learners success.
Julie Edwards: Our platform is the perfect tool for libraries. If you're looking to increase your eresource usage, move your programming, including your story times online and deliver and track training for staff development.
Julie Edwards: If you're interested in finding out more about our e-learning solution chatting with a member of our team, hearing what your colleagues and other libraries have to say. I'll drop a link to our website in the chat so you can check us out.
Julie Edwards: We are recording this webinar and I will make the recording, the slides, the Chat Transcript and the Audio transcript available to everyone after the presentation. All of that will be available on our blog, and you will get a direct email from me, letting you know when all of that is published.
Julie Edwards: You're very welcome to turn on closed captioning at the bottom of your zoom screen. If you would like to use that, please use the chat to talk with each other, share resources and information. But if you have
Julie Edwards: questions for the presenter, please use the question and answer box. There are a lot of people registered for this webinar. Over 400 of us in the room already, so things do tend to get lost in the chat. If you want to make sure we see your question, put it in the QA. Box, and I'll do my best to moderate that at the end of the webinar.
Julie Edwards: This webinar series is part of our commitment to solving bigger problems together. I am genuinely happy every week to see so many of you here. I will drop a link to our upcoming webinars in the chat box, so you can see those as well.
Julie Edwards: So without further ado, I'm so happy to introduce our presenter today. Dr. Noah Lenstra. Dr. Lenstra is an associate Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina. At Greensborough he received his MS. And Ph. D. In library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-champaign, my own Alma Mater.
Julie Edwards: He brings community a community organizing approach to the research and teaching of public librarianship. His books include healthy living at the library.
Julie Edwards: and 12 steps to a community led library. Since 2016 Dr. Lindstr has managed the Let's move in libraries initiative which he started. I am so thrilled to have him with us today, and I will turn the webinar over to him.
Noah Lenstra: Great thank you, Julie. And thanks so much to all of you for being here. And just a quick reiteration. If you didn't here at the beginning. We'd love to know where where folks are coming from, so feel free to to put that in the chat if you haven't already and again. Use the chat as much as you'd like. During the webinar especially with so many people
coming from so many different places. This chat is really your space to exchange information. share, share information, share advice. I'll I'll be sharing a few questions, prompting you to share in the chat. So please, please do so please see, the chat is your space to foster relationships amongst yourselves. And, as Julie said, please use the QA
Noah Lenstra: to get my attention. Otherwise II probably won't won't see what you're putting in until after the fact. But rest assured I will be looking at the chat quite, quite closely after the hour ends today.
And I just wanted to start by. It may be a little bit on the nose, but today, at least here in the United States, as Valentine's Day, yesterday my family was putting together some some Valentine's Day cards, my my child, in third grade, and just wanted to share a couple of my favorites of the the many cute Valentine's Day cards that she was exchanging with her classmates. And it was also a good reminder that Valentine's day, even though we think of it. Is a time for romance.
it's also a time to to let people know that they're important in our lives. And to really just acknowledge the relationships that are important to us so happy, happy Valentine's day to you all. And hopefully, that'll be a good place to start this discussion.
Noah Lenstra: So really, our our goals for today
are are to start by really thinking about
Noah Lenstra: why? Why are relationships important? Why do relationships matter to to the work of of librarianship. How can we understand that? How can we communicate that?
Noah Lenstra: We'll talk about how to work effectively with others to get things done? And finally, we'll talk about advocating for the time. You need to do this work effectively, because we know time is limited and and carving out the time to do the work. Does not come automatically.
Noah Lenstra: so just a a quick acknowledgement. I wanna acknowledge that the things that I'm sharing with you today are both a product of you all. It's really the things that II have learned are only possible from the work that you all do in your libraries and in your communities.
And it's also deeply informed by the work of this woman Kathleen Dayla Pena Mccruck. Who is a professor at the University of South Florida, and about 20 years ago, Doctor Mccruck started this website, the librarian at every table librarians and community initiatives. The central focus of this website and of her work, is to identify new tables at which librarians might take a place.
and that's really been been my, my interest and my focus is as a professor has been to think about where? Where are new new tables at which librarians can get a place. And I've been especially drawn toward and gravitating towards a tables within the health and health promotion sectors. So over the last 8 years
Noah Lenstra: I've started and managed a kind of a digital platform called, Let's move in libraries.
which I've been honored to have librarians across North America get involved with and and really take in and make it their own. Just wanna give a quick shout out to the the amazing librarians, Christie Dyson and Michelle Bennett Copeland, from at the time Fulton County Library system in Georgia, who took our logo, put it on a banner, put it on some T-shirts, and and really
embraced kind of that Fulton County Library was was doing and being part of let's move in libraries. also, wrote a couple of books. Have started a a few initiatives. And the main thing that I'll be talking about today. Is through through this work of thinking about how public libraries can get a seat at the table in conversations about health promotion. Is this toolkit that you see? In the top center of your screen?
based on a project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services on healthy eating and active living at at the library, and how this work is really a product of the relationships and partnerships. That that library informs.
Noah Lenstra: and I'd love to just hear a little bit about you again. It's probably gonna go by pretty fast. But if if you'd like to take a moment here at the beginning if there's any anything you'd like to share in the chat about what brings you here what you get.
Noah Lenstra: I hope to get out of today's session. Go ahead and put those in. II suspect you'll see lots of commonalities. And and you may even find some people in the chat who are interested in the same things that you're interested in. And and maybe you can, you can connect and start a relationship through through your shared interests.
And so let's just start by by really defining what success looks like in terms of re the relationship driven library, and so I wanna start by talking about what success looks like, and then we'll talk about what success doesn't look like and so when I think of a successful relationship driven library, I think of how, and and Humboldt, Iowa.
Last year the city received a $50,000, grant to create a healthy, eating, active, living plan. I if it says here, an institution or approach that can aid schools, workplace sites in the community at large. And and what makes this example successful is who was on the implementation Committee. So is this community put together. It's healthy eating, active, living plan. It included some people you might suspect. The Director of Public Health at the hospital.
the parks and recreation director. the school superintendent. A school counselor a regional economic development director. Oh, but there we have humble public library. Director Julie Larsen. So this is really what the relationship driven library looks like public librarians at the table at the on the planning stages involved in the conversations that shape communities,
and and what what doesn't success look like? What is the the opposite of the relationship given library.
Noah Lenstra: and that is when when public librarians are volunteered to kind of pick up the slack and and kind of our our infrastructure.
So during during the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw all kinds of examples of of librarians, often scrambling to try to fill in gaps with with not a lot of information, and often in the context of confusion. So headlines like the Denver Post reporting that Colorado to give out free K. Masks at libraries. But the programs roll out leads to confusion.
The Governor of Colorado said, Hey, hey, people of Colorado go to the library to get your masks and the librarians like. We have no idea what the governor is talking about. And because, the initiative took place without relationships. There was no real relationship between the governor's office and public librarians across Colorado. And guess what? If you don't have a relationship? Things are not gonna work. Well.
Similarly, the Washington Post. Said the Public Library is the latest place to pick up. Pick up a Coronavirus test. Librarians are overwhelmed. so given, let let's just start like by clearing the air and and really being upfront and about where we're at of the profession right now. 2022 urban librarians unite publish the 2022 urban library trauma. Study washington post censorship battles. New frontier your public library. you can't self care your way out of a broken system.
There's so much bad news, and stress, and and even trauma happening in our profession and given given given all of that it would be very natural, and it would be very human to put up boundaries to raise your defenses to to circle the wagons. to say there's so much happening on. I don't even want to pick my head up.
Noah Lenstra: let alone think about starting new relationships. this is this, if where it may feel like we should be heading
But I'm gonna a argue that. In fact, we should be doing just the opposite
Noah Lenstra: we should be cultivating the relationship driven library and and here's why this is the the why of relationships. Is that it's good for our bottom line. It's good for us, and and kind of that. That utilitarian value of relationships really became obvious to me when I heard this woman Ashley Stewart, who was then the director of the Kathy Vale Public Library, in Southern Illinois.
And now works for every library. she gave a presentation at the Association for Rural and small libraries conference on whole person, librarianship social services and public libraries. And most of the presentation was about just that social services, and how public libraries can be partners and social service delivery especially in small towns.
but but then she just mentioned in passing that her library was the first library in rural Southern Illinois to offer a direct Queen story time, and during the QA. The audience was like, well, ask Lee, how how did you do that? How did you feel like you had the confidence? In the capacity
to do something so bold is to offer a drag queen story time given the reality, the rural America and Ashley said, you know all these relationships that we've developed through efforts to distribute diapers and connect patrons to a food and all the work that we've done to get so densely connected with our community have created a firewall
against the power of attacks, because we know that the people who are causing the most noise causing us the most headaches. They are vocal, but they are also a vocal minority. And and Ashley really pointed out that if we want to defend ourselves, the most valuable thing that we can do is build relationships. Our relationships are what is gonna help us weather this storm and get through it to the other side?
Noah Lenstra: And so how do we do it? How do we actually do the work of cultivating and sustaining this, this relationship driven library and and and and a word to be over simplistic communications is really the answer that I have for you. And the reason why why communications is central is that unless you are already working with other organizations or individuals. Guess what? They don't think of you. They do not, they may think of libraries, they may know of the existence of libraries, but they don't need.
Don't. Don't think of you as individuals, as people who have expertise on the community who have things that they can contribute And and this is not just my assumption. This is a finding from a 3 year research project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, where we interviewed over 60 people, and sectors is diverse as parks and recreation, cooperative extension hospitals, nonprofits, school districts, area agencies of aging.
etc., etc. And as we talk to all these non librarians about their experience working with librarians, we heard again and again, that before these people had relationships with libraries. If they thought of libraries at all, they thought of them merely as book repositories. They may love them. They may have all these fund associations with libraries, but they see them only as booking.
Faith is. So it's the faith for story time. It's the faith for book clubs. It's the faith for book borrowing as they get to learn a little bit more about libraries start to spend more time in them. Maybe read something like Eric Kleinenberg's palaces for the people. They begin to see the library. Is this trusted resource? It's this space that's always there that's people people turn to and therefore, because it is this trusted resource. Hey? Let's use the library to distribute K.
5 masks, hey? Let's use the library to distribute Coronavirus tests, hey? Let's use the libraries to do XY or Z. But here again, the librarian is is non-existent. They don't really exist. It's not a relationship. The library is a passive receptacle or repository for whatever others want to do and it and it takes a lot of time. It takes time from both parties. It takes time
from librarians, and it also takes time from people who don't work in libraries. To get to this third stage where it's not so much about the library at all. It's really about the librarians. It's about the people who work in libraries.
Noah Lenstra: in this stage is when we get to the point where we will work together with librarians to figure out what we can do in our communities. And and I would say that the goal of the relationship driven library is to really help. Community members become people who naturally look to librarians as partners. That's the overriding goal of all of this is to transform people's perceptions. About a library work. And how they can become part of that
Noah Lenstra: and just to just to kind of illustrate this even further, what we what we heard in our interview. Is that people outside of libraries? If they think of libraries at all? They'll ask librarians, hey? Can you distribute something for me? Can you host something for me? Can you market something for me, can you do something for me? And and we found that, there is a growing number of Americans out there in the
world. Who are increasingly finding success by asking, How can how can we work together? What are? What are some things that we can do together? And the the flip side is also true within libraries. In kind of the environment. Where where librarians find themselves. they they often feel like they have to ask before they try something new. What's my capacity? Do I have the space to try something new? Do I have the staff or time to do something new? Do I have the budget to try something new? Can can I do this using my time, my staff, my resources?
Noah Lenstra: And that's very different from from instead asking, Who can, who can I work with? And I think we we can ask, who can I work with about literally anything up to and including community needs assessment. Oftentimes people will tell me. Well, the first step obviously, is to figure out what the community needs, and I say, II don't actually agree. I don't actually think it's obvious that the first step is to figure out what the community needs. If you think you wanna know what the community needs.
Maybe your first step is to ask who else in your community also is concerned with knowing what the community needs. And maybe you can work with them to figure out community needs together, I think, always. Who can I work with? The first question we should ask ourselves,
Noah Lenstra: so what what can we do with this information? How can we enact this and use it to to really transform our libraries and our communities.
So we we did develop this 4 step toolkit.
Noah Lenstra: that you can access at the URL. Let's move in libraries.org it. It'll be just in the middle of the web page you'll look for this logo and you'll see it. It's also a downloadable Pdf, and when we get to the end I'll also put a link into the chat.
Noah Lenstra: Oh, also, just to make a quick plug. We have a bunch of print copies. And I'm gonna be at the Public Library Association Conference in Columbus, in a Ohio. So send me an email and or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to look for an invitation to a meetup. And I'll give you a a copy or copies I'm driving there. So I'm gonna have a whole car full of toolkits that I'd love to. I'd love to give to people.
So they're free. I just want to get them out. So so yeah, get your copy
Noah Lenstra: But really the the the tool kit. We tried to keep it as simple as we could. And it's really based on 4 steps. First, as planting seeds. So so again, it's not so much about necessarily only discovering what communities need. It's also discovering. And who's who's interested in meeting those needs? And if the answer is, only people in your library are interested in meeting that need. Guess what. Keep keep stepping, keep walking. Don't do something until you find other people out there in the world
who are also interested in this if if the only people interested in working on something are in your library, that is a recipe for burnout. That is a recipe for dragging yourself into the dirt. Do not do that and so you may be wondering. Well, who how do I find out if well, who's interested in these things that I'm interested in
we really recommend looking to multi sector organizations. And that can be everyone from the Urban Ministry to the Chamber of Commerce. Rotary. school boards. There's there's and almost every community, even the the tiniest of communities. There's gonna be some some place where people get together, and that's where you need to go to find out who else is interested in the things that you're interested in.
and then use of connections to build new connections from
Noah Lenstra: and and yeah, and I see Lower End put in the chat Salvation Army. What are some of the other multi-sector organizations that you've connected with or have found valuable in your communities.
Noah Lenstra: you then wanna think about okay, we we ha! We found the need we found people are interested in working with us around that need? How do we move from kind of this kind of
Noah Lenstra: idea into something that actually has some legs. And this is the process of nurturing the seedlings. Moving an idea to reality. And here we see a lot of trust building a lot of scaling. Oftentimes you have to scale back your dreams to what's actually feasible and really trying to protect your project in the people involved in in creating it, so that it really has a chance to flourish.
stage 3 we call harvesting the bounty and here it's it's really it's so so important when we're doing this work. Especially when we think of the ultimate goal of getting people to think of librarians as community partners. It's absolutely critical that we take the time to celebrate. What we and our partners have done. That's gonna inspire others to engage with us.
it's also going to help us make sure that we're actually reaching the people we meant to reach. And it's gonna contribute to our advocacy abilities which we all know we need. We need help with advocacy right now.
and and the last one is. And this is probably the most difficult of resting the garden and preparing for next year.
Noah Lenstra: And this is asking questions both internally in your library, but also externally with your partners. How did things go? Did did it? Did it go the way you thought it would? And also do we wanna do something in the future. What's what's the future of this relationship gonna look like? And and really as much as possible, creating space for mindfulness sharing and planning.
Noah Lenstra: and you may be wondering why why we why? Why all this agricultural imagery? Why all this gardening stuff? And it's not just because we love gardening, although we do. But it's also like there's a real reason behind a
Noah Lenstra: So I've been going to to library conferences. I don't know. At this point 15, almost 20 years.
and then going to library conferences. What I hear again and again and again and again, is that people want recipes or like. Okay, you did that in your library. Tell me exactly how you did it, so that I can do it in my library and and guess what the the things that matter in libraries there is no recipe to follow. Recipes don't exist for the real work of librarianship.
we may wish that it work that way. But it doesn't. Recipes assume that one person working in a controlled environment. If they follow the recipe, if they have the right inputs will get to the same output every single time. And in the garden it's not bad at all. It's one or more people working in an uncontrolled environment. There's never any guarantee of success. It's always dependent on external
you have to be mindful of the time and the place in which you're trying to build something. And and there's a time for rest, reflection, and harvesting built into the process. So so we really think that this, that if we can shift our thinking from, give me the recipe that I can follow. So let's let's let's swap. Advice about gardening will be will be setting ourselves up for success in terms of doing this work.
Noah Lenstra: so for the last 20 min you've heard me kind of talk in in kind of general way.
Excuse me 1 s.
Noah Lenstra: I now want to shift for maybe the next. Oh, excuse me, and the lights went off. 5, 10 min to really walk you through a couple of real world examples of of what this looks like. Cause we know. It's one thing to kind of hear things in kind of an academic, abstract way. It's quite another to hear them in a real world context.
Noah Lenstra: So let me take you to Seabrook, Texas, for a moment. So in Seabrook, Texas, Malagros Mega features he featured here. Is the branch manager of the Evelyn Meadow Library, which is part of the Harris County Library,
Noah Lenstra: And a couple of years ago she shared with me, and I also heard this, by the way, from from her partner. So III got this story from multiple perspectives, from what I consider to be one of the most amazing stories about how public librarianship is done.
so when Mala Rose came to Seabrook. she's like, wow! This library has an amazing outdoor space where there's all this green space around the library, but it's just grass. It's literally just grass.
Noah Lenstra: What what can we do with this this green space that would help us promote sustainability, help us promote environmental education people getting their hands dirty. Really understanding where food comes from. And she's like we could do a community garden. This would be great like. There's no community garden here. There's nothing like this in my community.
and even though Malog growth is pictured here with a shovel in her hands. She didn't go well back and start moving dirt around instead. What she did is, she would tell anyone
Noah Lenstra: who who she thought might be interested about her idea. So she'd go to the Rotary meeting. She'd go to the Chamber of commerce. She'd go to various meetings in the community, and she'd tell people about the importance of having a library card canopy and hoopla, and this that and the other, and then she'd say, Oh, and by the way, we also have this great space at our library. And we'd love to put a community garden into it.
But we we need help. We can't do this on our own and if if Malagros talked up the idea of a community garden at one of these meetings in attendance was the city manager. So the city manager of Seabrook, Texas, heard Malag Rose talking about her idea.
And the city managers like, okay, that's that's interesting. That's that's interesting information. And a couple of weeks later, completely, independently this nonprofit organization and and February came to the city manager and and the nonprofit was like, Hey, city manager, you know what we need here in Seabrook we need. We need a community garden
Noah Lenstra: and and the city managers like, let me tell you, II have the person you need to talk with and and the city manages like, have you talked to Malagros? Senega, the branch manager of the local library and the nonprofit, is like. No, no, we have not. Because guess what? Who in America? If who's thinking about putting together a community garden? Who in America or New Zealand, or anywhere in the world, would think I gotta go talk with my librarian. The answer is, no one
Noah Lenstra: but they knew to do this in Seabrook, Texas, because this librarian had communicated at. They had planted the seed, they had put it out in the world, and therefore someone else made the connection
based on that connection facilitated by the city manager, Malogen, the nonprofit, started meeting at the library. They started nurturing the feedling. They worked together to put together a business plan. They got a small grant they figured out how to do it. They started small, with a container herb garden. They kept building into a raised bed vegetable garden, as they learned more and more about how to work
Noah Lenstra: with each other and play to each other's strengths. They expanded to an edible fruit forest, a story walk, lending, gardening supplies, and collaborating with an adjacent middle school, and it just keeps going, and it all starts with conversation. It all starts with communication.
Noah Lenstra: So in in other instances we don't have to be the ones planting the seeds. Sometimes a seed will literally land in our labs, and it's up to us what we do with them.
Noah Lenstra: So I want to share share that story from Marion, Iowa.
Noah Lenstra: So in Mary, in Iowa. about a decade ago. The library was in the very early stages of planning for a new library building the town was expanding. It was kind of growing from a a small little town into kind of more of a bedroom community of feeder rapids, but still having a very small town feel to a
Noah Lenstra: and if Marianne was growing. It also was outgrowing. It's existing public library building. So as they were planning for a new building.
Noah Lenstra: they had a series of community conversations in which they invited people to come in and share with them what they'd like to see at the new library.
Noah Lenstra: And so at one of these conversations a seed literally landed in the lap of the librarian, some in the form of the area agency. On aging
Noah Lenstra: the area agency on aging came to one of these meetings. And they said, gosh! You know what would be great if in your new library building you could set aside some of the space for a dedicated senior center. Mary, in Iowa, like a lot of small towns, doesn't have a senior center. There is no senior center in in Mary, in Iowa.
And so therefore, the area agency and aging thought, well, hey, if we're building a new library, why don't we just carve off part of that space and create a senior center? And and the library? Said II you know that's an interesting idea.
we're we're not gonna do that and and I'll tell you why we're not gonna do that.
Noah Lenstra: The whole reason why we're building this new library is that we need more space. and if we were to carve out part of the space for a senior center we would be back where we started in terms of having not enough space to do what we need to do.
Noah Lenstra: But but the library said, Tell us more about what you'd like to see in a senior center. Maybe they're the way that we could work together.
Noah Lenstra: And at that point, the area agency on aging disclosed that they had recently gotten a huge huge grant from the Federal Government to do congregate meals free free meals for older adults and communities across Eastern Iowa, and they wanted to do these in Marion. But there was no senior center in Marion, so they thought, well, there's no senior center in Marion. There's no way we can do. Congregate meals.
And the library said.
Noah Lenstra: well, tell us more about this. Maybe there's a way that we can. We can work together. In the area agency on aging, explain more about congregate meals and and their their focus on food insecurity among older adults? And and what would it take for the library to be a congregate meal site? And the library took all that information in and and they're like, I we think we can do this. And not only do we think we can do it.
Noah Lenstra: we think we can do it before we even build a new building. We could probably do this tomorrow, using our meeting room based on the way that you've described that area agency. On aging their jaws dropped to the ground. This was completely beyond the pale of anything they ever imagined would be possible in a library.
This partnership began because a librarian educated someone in the public who didn't know what librarians do, didn't understand what this work entails and and found a way to communicate to them what's possible. And then figure out what they could do and similar to see Brock then they were off to the races. They started meeting at the library. They figured out who would do what?
When and really the library had to do very little. They just had to dedicate their meeting room from about 11 to 1 30 Monday and Friday, and then
Noah Lenstra: the area agency on aging and its partners came in. Did all the setup all the teardown and the library said it brought, like so many more older adults, into their library. It brought all this good will people. The library was getting press and publicity. They were never getting before
And and then 2 things happened. In 2019 and twenty-twenty. First Rachel tore across the midwest and literally destroyed the library even before the library was torn down. That a Rachel tore it down, and so there was no library in Marion in 2,019 and so then, in 2,020, COVID-19 happened. So this library was really like literally
feeling it didn't physically exist. And then, even if it did there was no place to go and do things and so the library staff kind of set up different offices throughout the town to kind of have some sort of
hobbled together. Library service. They started kind of distributing meals and kind of this
Noah Lenstra: this kind of ad hoc, grab and go fashion. But I think a lot of people thought like the encore cafe was dead, like everyone thought, that's the end. And then, like like Phoenix rising from the ashes, and 2023 through the power of these relationships, with the Marion public Library back off the ground. New new library opened.
They're back in business. Baby. Encore cafe at the Marion Public Library is finally here. area agency on aging is excited to announce the grand reopening of the encore cafe. This is a real example of the success of power of relationships. This is not anything any library in America could do by itself, nor should it.
This is the power of of librarians working hand in hand with others to to do new things.
Noah Lenstra: So 2 stories, one from one from Iowa, one from Texas. And I'd be happy to go into more detail if if maybe maybe desire, during the Q&A.
Noah Lenstra: But before we get to that point, I just wanna walk again through the steps. So so again, when we think of those examples, and Iowa and Texas and others that may, you may be familiar with. What we found is that to to do something new. You need 2 things. You need to have a need that's not being met. And you need to have people interested in that.
Noah Lenstra: And those people interested need to include people within your library, and they need to include people outside of your library. And the good news is, as we all know. There's no shortage of needs in America. So we can. We can really choose and and think about strategically about how to most strategically allocate our time. To work and build these relationships.
and and also I will say, the good news is the more we we get get good at doing this the more needs that we can meet. Because if if we're really doing this successfully, it's not about librarians meeting needs by themselves. It's about librarians. Meeting needs through the power of community partnerships.
Noah Lenstra: So that's step, one bye, bye.
Noah Lenstra: step 2. And both in in Iowa and Texas, and and in countless other examples.
there's this process of nourishing seedlings. Because we know that that shift from idea to reality is difficult. It's not guaranteed. In in the garden there's no guarantee of success.
And given given the what can be sometimes a hostile environment? We in our partners need to need to find ways to to kind of for for a time. have perhaps some closed meetings so that we can get to know each other. Figure out what we're doing figure out who we are.
and and so this is the process of nurturing our seedlings, protecting them, weeding making sure they're nervous so that they can. They can come into whatever amazing initiative we want them to become.
Noah Lenstra: And then, whatever happens. We want to harvest our our bounty.
Noah Lenstra: and and by that, what we we thought about like, okay, back in and and still today, a lot of agricultural communities. When when August or September or October come around, they have these big harvest festivals and and we wanna, have a similar sort of atmosphere of festival and celebration when when we and our partners in our relationship develop something new that didn't exist previously.
and probably could never exist were it not for us working together. And so it's really critical that we we take the time to celebrate what came from our labor. It's good for us. It's good for our partners. It's good for our community, it's good for the growth and sustainment of the library. And it also makes sure that what we're doing is actually nourishing those that need sustenance.
this is also the time for for assessment.
Noah Lenstra: And and finally, take the time to look backwards and look forward, and and I will just say, I'm I'm aware of the realities of library work, and and I will also say, I know this is the hardest thing to do. We know as soon as one thing, and it's immediately on to the next thing II know that you know that like, let's not beat around the boss.
But the more that we can figure out easy ways to carve out time for reflection. in debriefing the better we will be. And it could be something as simple as a a form letter that you send to your partners thanking them for participating and asking them if if they they have a time either to share some thoughts over email
in a form or in a quick phone call. the same thing is important to do internally. And and the reason why this debrief is good to do both internally as well as with your partners. Is that we know that not every single relationship is gonna be a a home run. Sometimes you spend a lot of time working with the partner, and it just never works the way you think it's going to and that's that's fine. That's that's okay.
Noah Lenstra: Topic. So part of this debrief part of Step 4 is really asking yourself, are we gonna move this partner up or down the continuum. And and and thinking of that like this is a really awesome image that I've used myself, and and would really encourage it from the Tegel foundation. It's called the collaboration continuum
Noah Lenstra: and it really starts with, on the one hand, organizations or individuals that have no relationship. These are entities that are conducting activities without input from or exchange with other institutions.
So II don't know anyone at parks and recreation. I have no relationship with parks and recreation whatsoever. That is. That's that's kind of where where we start. And then we could go to the opposite end of the continue one where we have completely merged operations, administrative structures, and budgets.
the constituent parts are no longer discernible, and and again thinking of parks and recreation that could be something like a community Services Division where parks and recreation and public libraries both report
to ahead of a unified community Services Division. Perhaps there's even a joint youth facility where a public library share the space, and possibly even staff with parks and recreation. And in between these 2 poles of no relationship and total integration. We have options. We can be exchanging information for mutual benefit.
Noah Lenstra: we can be coordinating. Oh, you're doing something. On the seventeenth. I will not do something. On the seventeenth, some
we could be cooperating we could share our staff share our space. come on down to the library and give a taste of that yoga class you do at your Rec center. We could be collaborating. Hey? We wanna do a professional development day for our staff? Do you do your staff also? Wanna come? Maybe we can do a mental health first aid training together for both of our staff.
so there's all these options. A relationship doesn't necessarily have to look the same way in every case. Nor does the relationship have to say, have the same structure. And and in this last step of looking back and looking forward and debriefing, that the key thing that we wanna ask ourselves, is given given this partner or this this network of partners, as the case may be, how do we want this relationship to function in the future.
Do we? Wanna say, okay, that was that was an experience. I think we're gonna put pause on this relationship for a little bit. Maybe we'll pick it up later. There! There may be some dysfunction that we just don't want in our organization at the moment, and that's that's fine. Or alternatively, it could be like, Wow, that one amazing. We we really cooperated. Really? Well, maybe there's a way we can more proactively collaborate or even thinking about integrating
Noah Lenstra: and and wanna. So this is really powerful. I'm I'm gonna move to the last slide really quickly, because I wanna make sure we time. We have plenty of time for QA.
Noah Lenstra: So just a few final thoughts before we get there.
Noah Lenstra: Advocacy. advocacy. We all know advocacy is important. There's no no one in America right now who doesn't know advocacy of important and we also need to be advocates for the relationship driven library and these are just some, some things that I found in my research that can be really helpful for librarians to share with their bosses with city managers, with county commissioners, with members of of the public about why, why, we're spending the time going to meetings of the Chambers of Commerce or the community health coalition.
Why? Why is it important that that librarians be be cultivators of relationships? They can help us. develop new library advocates and allies that idea of relationships with firewalls. They can help us develop new services funding, possibly even spaces.
They can bring us ideas, inspiration and energy. Especially when we're feeling down. It can give us a boost of energy to have somebody come in who's all Gung ho! About new things? It can help us find new ways to reach the underserved
Noah Lenstra: it can help us find new ways to make a difference. And and I'm sure there's many other ways that we can advocate for the relationship driven library. So what are what are some things that you think the relationship driven library could do for you, or has done for you in your library would love to hear that in the chat.
Noah Lenstra: And finally, What's in your talking points about why others should work with us. So when this webinar ends II really want all of you to go out and talk up to whoever will listen. Librarians are rock stars. We're action figures. If you're trying to do something in your community, why would you not think of talking with us. Don't! Don't wait until your idea is fully formed.
Come with us and ask us to help distribute it. We want to be in on ground floor. And and and so here's some talking points I'll give to you. Libraries are intergenerational
centers that contribute to the public health epidemic of loneliness. We're not only doing it in our buildings, we we're doing it literally out in the streets. In things like book mobiles outreach fans. We are action figures. We are mental health advocates. We are Instagram Tick-tock influencers, and we are reaching new generations in ways that people don't even realize. And you need to be working with us if you wanna do something positive in your community
Noah Lenstra: and a plug. we. We are passionate about this. We really think to keep building this out. We want to celebrate examples of people who get up people who understand the power of the library as a community partner in 2023. We launched the I partner with my public library award. We gave it to 10 10 collaborators all across America.
Call for applications. It's gonna open June first, 2024 learn more on our website and make sure to subscribe to the newsletter to get the the call for applications and join us. Join us in building a national platform for the relationship driven library.
Noah Lenstra: So closing out. who in your workplace or community needs to hear what you've heard today. What additional information do you need to try something new?
Noah Lenstra: And where do we go from here?
Noah Lenstra: These are the questions I have for you, and I know there's lots of questions for me as well. So I'm gonna stop talking in a minute. But again start, let's go. Let's let's do something. Let's let's move in libraries. Let's let's not stand around and and and gaze at our naval. Let's let's let's do something. Let's let's start with passion, but start small. Be be strategic. Don't don't try to do it all
dream big and don't do anything new alone, ever and and just a final image of inspiration. This is the Beanstalk Ballet program, at the St. Louis County Public Library, made possible by a partnership by a relationship this library has with the Saint Louis Ballet.
So thank you. Here's my my information. You'll give you slides and I I'm gonna leave up this this image of inspiration, will we? Will we go into the QA. Julie, I know you've been watching it is there? A question you'd like me to answer first.
Julie Edwards: Yes, there are. A lot of questions coming in. Please feel free to keep adding to them. We'll get through as many as we can. Someone's asking. It would be great to hear your take on developing relationships outside of the pressure to work on specific projects, think that people need to start with the hope of doing a project of some kind together? Or can they just build relationships.
Noah Lenstra: Yeah, II really, I really think we should be able to just build relationships that. And I know that's hard. But let me give you a very concrete example of how it can work in terms of an institutional policy. So in Akron, Ohio, in in the a. The Akron Public Library. They have a form that any staff member can fill out and say, like.
Noah Lenstra: you know, members of our community are gathering together. in this meeting, and and we we we think the libraries should be at at the table at this conversation, and the librarian will fill out this form. And if if the Admin approved that a librarian can go on paid staff time and go attend maybe the monthly meeting of, say, the urban ministry,
and and I think we should have policies and procedures in place that the kind of empower staff to be doing things like that and doing them not only in kind of a utilitarian function of like, we gotta start something new. But like we, we need to be at the meeting of the urban ministry. Let's let's figure out if we can make it happen. So I think even though the 2 examples I shared. We're both based around specific concrete initiatives.
I think there's there's really power and and really getting getting seats at tables where where we may be in a position to add our expertise.
Noah Lenstra: And and I know. Let me let me just. I know there's lots of questions I want to share a concrete example, because I always love so this so I'll give an example of how this worked. In an Arundel county, Maryland,
So in an Arundel County, Maryland, the librarian, the branch manager of the Brooklyn Park Branch, she was able to get a feed at the table in this community of hope, community coalition focused on inequities and the foster care system and by by just being present at these these kind of community coalition meetings, the librarian was able to figure out how
how they were able to share their expertise. In a way no one could have anticipated. They were trying to get this this community food pantry going and off the ground. And they're like, I don't. I don't know anything about volunteer management like, and the librarians like well, I do
and so the librarians contribution to this community food pantry was sharing their expertise on volunteer management. But that contribution would not have been possible if the librarians were not already present. In those conversations. So I think there's real real value, and and just being involved in building relationships that are not kind of strictly programmatic in nature, if that makes sense.
Julie Edwards: No, that's fantastic. Thank you. Before we move on. There are a couple of sort of low hanging questions people are asking if you could put the slide back up with the Newsletter link and the link, the loneliness program, or the
Noah Lenstra: yeah. So this is the the newsletter. and and yeah, if you and you could also, if you go to the website and just click about us. There'll be kind of a Newsletter sidebar. and and I can also probably put that in the chat as well. There may be, maybe, Julie, I can. I can also send you it an email. You can. You can send the newsletter link and kind of a follow up.
Noah Lenstra: and then the loneliness. I think this this may have been that is that was that the loneliness thing? Yeah, the talking points. Yeah. And I just chose these just to illustrate. I mean, there's always gonna be talking points like, I mean, society is gonna be changing like 10 years from now the talking points are gonna be different. But but really like I think we libraries. We talk a lot about marketing libraries and library services.
and what I'm saying is, we need to market ourselves. We need to market ourselves as people that are are really community members experts. So it's really shifting the narrative from from how great libraries are to how librarians and library workers are literal rock stars, and have so much to contribute to 2 communities. If only we were in place to to unlock that
those contributions. And though that unlocking only happens through relationships
Julie Edwards: mit Ctl, and thank you. And there's a lot of there are people saying that the newsletter is absolutely fantastic, encouraging others to sign up. So that's great.
Julie Edwards: Let's see someone's asking.
Julie Edwards: Can you please offer some advice on how to support librarians bridging the gap between the discussion of wanting to be community connected and then moving to actually beginning the process, for example, overcoming ownership issues that the library belong to the community, not to the people who work there?
Noah Lenstra: Hmm.
Noah Lenstra: yeah. So so that I think that that is Yeah. So what are what are some obstacles that may come up so, and and one obstacle may be the perception that the library belongs to to the people that work there. And and we have to really advocate for the idea that the library belongs to the community.
Noah Lenstra: yeah, let let me let me think about that. I think that's that's a really really great great question.
Noah Lenstra: and I'm trying to think of some some easy, easy ways to. And and I would say that the thing that I'm I'm kind of naturally, naturally thinking about and this, this could be something to work towards. Ii think there's lots of great examples. Of kind of libraries that are are kind of shifting their programming model from a programming model in which you come to the library only to engage in programs creating
by library workers. And instead, librarians are kind of curators of programs. We we curate a range of programs, some of which may be offered by staff, some of which are offered by partners. And and I think that that idea of kind of the library as a space for people to share their knowledge, expertise, and skills.
it can be a really powerful way to kind of open up the idea that the library as a real real community space.
Noah Lenstra: in. In one example, I'd encourage people to look at if you're interested in that idea of the library of the space to share skills.
Bellingham, Public Library and Bellingham, Washington. They have something called the skill share. So if you just search for Bellingham public library skill share. That was actually developed through a project called Small Libraries create smart spaces. Led by Web Junction, and it's a really really powerful example about how libraries in in a very physical way
way worked towards transforming how how the library thought itself kind of shifting from the idea that everything in the library is kind of controlled by librarians to the idea that we want you to come in and and make of this space what you want to make of that and so if you're an expert in Tai Chi, come on down to the library and share that scale with others who may be interested in Tai Chi. It's a really really powerful model that I think could could really open the door to to changing that perception.
Julie Edwards: Thank you. And I just want to address in the chat. I did drop the link to the let's move in libraries website. It is loading slowly. I think there are probably 500 of us trying to get into it right now. So just so you're aware, the link is accurate, and it will get you there. Let's see, someone's asking, and you know I'm
Julie Edwards: mit Ctl, and there's so much good information going back and forth in the chat, please. If any of you have ideas of how you would answer these questions, I'm sure that you're more than welcome to to share your thoughts. Someone's asking. We have a really good relationship with many community members and have developed relationships with a lot of community organizations 123,
Julie Edwards: but we are really struggling to connect with the indigenous community in our city any suggestions on how to connect with them?
Yes, thank you thank you for that. And and and and I appreciate kind of the yeah, the the the really thinking about, how do we? How do we connect with with members of our community that historically may have been not not felt like the library with their space.
and and 1 1 one example, especially when we think about first nations or indigenous communities. that, I've seen some libraries in Canada actually develop. Is is having kind of
residency or resident program. So so thinking, if you could have a community elder and resident at your library program, and and it may be something that requires some, some financial investment, that front. But it could be over time, something that becomes self sustaining. Ii believe that was either Edmonton or Calgary had a really really great example.
Kind of a Residency program where where they had Yeah, someone someone come in from that represented the community that they were trying to build a better relationship with and and really be in charge and empowered to to do programming and other initiative that the library with with the support of the library and and something like that, I think, could go a real long way in terms of
creating space and structure for people to feel like. The library is there to kind of work and build in and if you send me an email, I'd I'd be more than happy to share. Share some more information about about some of those residency programs that I'm familiar with.
Julie Edwards: Thank you so much. There's also a lot of great information and links coming in through the chat. So be sure to check those out. Just a reminder. I will be putting the chat on the blog, so you'll all have access to all of this in just a few days you'll get an email from me when that's ready. Someone's asking is the I partner program limited to the Us.
Noah Lenstra: At at this point it is. If we get like well, no, actually, I think that's that's not right. I think I don't know cause we and I'll I'll just say or so. I think
I honestly don't remember and I will say in 2023 all of our submissions came from the Us. and I don't believe we have any any kind of restrictions on that. I will double check and if it's not international, I'll make sure that it is by 2024. So wherever wherever you are definitely nominate someone
Julie Edwards: that's awesome. Thank you. I'm sure you've made our international librarians really happy. We're coming up against the end of the hour. We'll go ahead with sort of try to get one more last question in here. Do you have any ideas about discerning community needs in what is perceived as a not so needy community?
Noah Lenstra: Yeah. So II think that's that's a great great question. So and and kind of communities. That that may seem like they have a lot of affluence, some how do you get to that. And and again I would say, oftentimes the best way is to be talking with other people, and and I'll give a quick example. Anna Rundle County. I mentioned earlier the partnership for children in Ana Rundle County, about a decade we go
release this record report called poverty among plenty. Anna Rundle County in general is quite affluent. It's a it's a. It's a an area that has plenty for most people. But there's also a lot of pockets of poverty within Anna Rundle County. So I would guess. That wherever you are, other people out there are probably aware of the needs. And so don't assume as a library. You need to do that. Community needs assessment. Look for organizations like partnership for children
health departments, hospitals. maybe even the mayor's office. Others may already be collecting that information. So asking asking other organizations,
that are charged with serving the public do you know what the needs are? There may be a poverty among plenty. Report in your community that you can tap into. That would be my recommendation.
Julie Edwards: That is excellent. Thank you so much, and that brings us right up to the top of the hour. We really appreciate your time and expertise all the research, and especially the examples that you shared with with us this afternoon. Thank you so much.
No, thank you, thanks, all of you. And and I really can't wait to spend probably hours looking through the chat. I'm so so excited that you all came for this. And and please please be in touch and apologies that the website is loading a little bit slow right now. It it will load eventually. I think we may have overlooked it. But that's that's a good problem to have. Thank you. Thank you so much, and thank you, Julie.
Julie Edwards: Thank you all for attending this afternoon. Thank you for sharing so freely of what your libraries and the libraries, you know, are doing colleagues all over the world. We really appreciate it. I will publish this chat and the slides and the recordings on the blog. In a few days we'll get you an email as soon as that's ready. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your afternoon and get out there and do some really interesting community collaborations. Thanks so much. Everybody.